Crew: Geoff, Malcolm, Phil.
Forecast Cook: Southerly 25 knots, easing to 15 knots in the morning and to variable 10 knots late afternoon. Rough sea easing. Long period southerly swell 1 metre developing. Fair visibility in a few morning showers.
The Plan:
Wed 29th December: Wellington high tide 1326 hrs 1.7 m.
Leave Wellington to arrive at Sinclair Head 1 hour before HW Wellington.
1030 hrs – Leave Chaffers Marina
1230 hrs – Arrive Sinclair Head (2 hrs at 6 kts)
1600 hrs – Arrive Tory Channel (3.5 hrs at 6 kts)
1830 hrs – Arrive Waikawa Marina (3.5 hrs at 6 kts)
Phil and Malcolm joined Geoff on Halo at Chaffers Marina at 0900 hrs. We packed and prepared the boat, did the safety briefing and had a last coffee at Raglan Roast. With the No. 2 jib rigged we cast off from our berth at 1035 hrs with around 16 kts of wind coming from the south. I logged the trip report with Maritime Radio.
We had arranged with Mark and Kaye with their big catamaran Miri VI to sail across Cook Strait with them as it was their first time doing the crossing. They departed from Seaview and their boat came into view as we rounded Pt Halswell. They followed behind us as we motor sailed through Chaffers Passage along with a bunch of other yachts including Papillon, Patea, Wayward and Sea Beagle.
Once we rounded Palmer Head, and keeping a lookout for the cray pots, we were able to switch off the engine and sail on a beam reach towards our next way point. Sinclair Head marks the beginning of the infamous Karori Rip. We entered the rip at 1250 hrs into the usual washing machine and bounced our way towards the Thoms Rock way-point. As we passed the Karori Rock lighthouse and headed more towards the north, the wind was behind us so we poled out the jib to sail ‘goose winged’ making great progress at around 7.5 kts.
As we passed by Sea Beagle, a Bavaria 34, Phil was able to call out to his mate Bruce across the water. We also caught up with Patea, a Stewart 34 but they then turned towards the north, presumably to sail around Cape Koamuru.
We handed the steering over to Ernesto, our new Simrad TP22 auto tiller. First time we’ve used it. We found him very responsive in the rough seas and he did a good job of keeping us on course.
As we neared the entrance to Tory Channel I did the “All Ships” call on Ch 16. We did find that although we were steering on the correct heading towards the entrance the leeway was moving us off course northwards towards the rocks on East Head. We had to correct our course and we eventually passed through the channel entrance at 1630 hrs without any problems.
Once inside the calm of Tory Channel we motor-sailed our way towards Queen Charlotte Sound and then down to Waikawa Marina. I closed the TR with Maritime Radio and we motored in to the marina 1908 hrs and tied up at our berth.
Mark and Kaye tied Kiri VI up at a mooring outside the marina and they come to meet us in their dinghy and joined us for a celebratory meal at the Jolly Roger where we planned our next day’s adventure.
Halo Log Book 